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Friday, October 30, 2015

Ho! Ho! Ho! Young Adult Kindle Giveaway!












Ho! Ho! Ho! Kindle Fire Giveaway
Sponsored by your favorite Young Adult Authors
Shelly Crane
Devyn Dawson
Daniele Lanzarotta
Tressa Messenger
Cameo Renae
Natalie Star
Thank you to the following bloggers for sharing this fantabulous giveaway on their blog!

Author Meghan Riley - www.mmriley.com
Love Infinity Book Blog - www.facebook.com/loveinfinitybookblog
Crazy Chixs Book Reviews - www.crazychixsbookreview.blogspot.com


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Monday, October 26, 2015

Top 10 Writing Faux Pas

TOP 10 WRITING FAUX PAS
A WRITER SHOULD NEVER DO

by Devyn Dawson


I'm not an expert, but I'm a writer who has made mistakes.  I've certainly seen many seasoned and new authors make faux pas that should never have been done.  Here is my list of things not to do.

10.  Don't put up a random status on social media and then disappear.  Keep it open for thirty minutes, and reply to comments.  By commenting and ENGAGING with the public, you'll become real and soon you'll see they comment on more of your posts!

9.  Never compare your book to another book in your synopsis....unless you wrote the other book.  Example - If you love Steven King's IT - you're going to love this book even more.  I mean really, my book is the bees knees, his sucks.  disclaimer (IT is by far my favorite SK book)

8.  Before hitting up a blogger for a review, read their website and their rules.  You can't ask a romance blog to review your horror book.  The blogs are bogged down with requests these days, and many aren't open for new books.  My own TBR list is over five hundred.  If the blog replies with a no thank you, don't beg.  Begging is for dogs.  Bloggers are our friends, be nice.  

7.  If you want to have a blog hop, offer something as an incentive.  A $100 or even $50 Amazon card will make the bloggers want to participate ($25 is good too, but the more you offer, the more participation you'll have).  Just asking them to promote your book and not have a great prize, will probably leave you without any bloggers.  If you really want to get some participation, offer another prize for the bloggers.... not just an e-book.  Even though e-books are great, that isn't usually enough to get them in the door.

6.  This is Facebook advice.  Don't just pimp out and beg people to buy your book.  Imagine standing in a hallway in school and this is what you do, every single day of school.  Oh hey, lookie at me, me, me, me.  I have awesome hair, I'm better than everyone.  Me, me, me.  One of the things I do on my fan page is pimp other authors.  If I find a great deal on a book, I post about it.  I love to read, and fans actually like to know what you're reading. 

5. Don't go on rampages on social media about politics or religion, unless that's what you write about.  Election time is soon and everyone has an opinion, but keep yours to yourself.  There are a few people who get away with those posts, but it isn't something a young adult writer should get involved with.  The most political thing I will say is, "Go vote, I don't care who you vote for, just do it."

4. Don't get involved in social media arguments.  This is usually a Facebook issue, but Twitter has them too.  If something is heated between another author and someone, stay out of it.  I will see these posts and I cringe when I see someone I admire dropping in their two cents.  Yes, those posts are like a train wreck, you can't help but stop and lurk.  Don't get involved.

TOP THREE

3.  F bombs in status messages.  If you're a young adult author and you're cussing about the world, you're setting a bad example.  

2.  Don't friend request someone and when they accept your request, you post a link to your book on their page.  I loathed that, and it is def going to get you unfriended by me.  Don't do one of those posts - Hey, thank you for the friendship, here's a link to my book.  ME ME ME....   bye, Felicia

1.  Do NOT ever ever ever ever respond to a negative review.  Ever.  Yes, some reviews are ridiculous and are aimed at the author instead of the book.  Respect their opinion, even if you don't like it.  Bad reviews are your friend.  If they have valid points, learn from them.  If you see several ill reviews about your book and they are all the same problem, it is more than likely a problem you need to address.  A lot of people read a bad review and read the book to see if it's true.  There are trolls, and there are haters who will say very mean things, just leave it alone.  Someone once put my book on their bookshelf "if you ever see me read anything from this author shoot me in the head" - I checked out their bookshelf to see who else made the list.  John Grisham, JK Rowling, and a couple of other amazing writers.  I found it to be a badge of honor.  If someone else looked at the shelf, they too would probably think they couldn't take that opinion seriously.  Let haters be haters.  It sucks, but you have to do it.  Remember, never respond.

I'm Devyn Dawson, and I write both young adult paranormal and new adult books.  If you would like to learn more about my books, please stop by www.devyndawson.com

My series, The Light Tamer Trilogy is now on sale.  The first book is free and the second book is marked down to $0.99, the final book is two books in one for $2.99.  The entire series for $3.98  Click on the covers to read more.  Available at all ebook retailers.


***"One of the sweetest books I've ever read! A must read for YA lovers." 
- Shelly Crane, NEW YORK TIMES Bestselling Author of Significance and Wide Awake***


***"The Light Tamer trilogy is a paranormal trilogy with a difference! It has plenty of romance, humour, mythology and twists and turns to keep you guessing until the end. Don't miss Jessie and Caleb's story!"  Kendall ~ Book Crazy***


"I love a book that's holds my attention, makes me care for the characters and doesn't have a bunch of filler to add length. This is one of those books. Definitely time well spent when reading any book in this series." Quinn Loftis, USA TODAY Bestselling Author of The Grey Wolf Series





Thursday, October 22, 2015

Alexia Purdy New Release!

The ArcKnight Chronicles
By
Alexia Purdy
Coming Oct. 22nd

Don't forget the Giveaway at the bottom! :)

The ArcKnight Chronicles (Books 1 & 2)
Ardent (The ArcKnight Chronicles #1)
MarkTier (The ArcKnight Chronicles #2)
Author: Alexia Purdy
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Publish Date: Oct. 22nd, 2015

BOOK DESCRIPTION:
The ArcKnight Chronicles
(Books 1 & 2):

Vengeance is the only thing worth dying for. 


Only love can save you. 

Teaming up with a handsome shifter named Ephrem, the banished Princess Lilliana must find her stolen Ardent talisman before a sinister enemy uses it against both rival wolf pack strongholds. Thrown onto a path neither of them expected, they stumble across a third cell of supernatural shifters lurking in the city’s Outlands where tensions mount. These new strangers want nothing more than to disrupt the two royal strongholds, the ArcKnights and the MarkTiers, and reignite a long-forgotten feud from decades past. 

In the treacherous City of Temple where supernaturals and humans intertwine, only the most cunning will survive. 

Includes Books #1 & #2: Ardent & MarkTier Vengeance is the only thing worth dying for.


BOOK LINKS:
The ArcKnight Chronicles (Books 1 & 2):

Ardent (The ArcKnight Chronicles #1):

MarkTier (The ArcKnight Chronicles #2):

Enmity (The ArcKnight Chronicles #3)
Releases Dec. 8th, 2015:

 

EXCERPT ONE
“Well, you need to remember everything you’ve been told about the neutral area between strongholds. The Outlands of Temple are cursed. Yes, it’s a large city and thrumming with people, but it’s also a supernatural focal point. A vortex of some sort that attracts people. Normal and supernatural alike.”

I gulped. “So it rains here all the time. Why would anyone want to stay here?”

Ephrem rubbed his face, scratching his chin.

“Look, I don’t know how much they’ve told you, but like I said, it attracts people. It attracts all sorts of unsavory people too. That’s why it’s dangerous to go traipsing around this place at night. Actually, it’s not safe at any time. No one leaves willingly, either. This place is like… I don’t know… like the strongest magnet in the world. It draws you in, latches onto you and never lets go. People are warned to never come here. Only those of superior supernatural powers are ever able to break the hold it has over them.

I stared at him in horror. “What? Are you saying I’m stuck here?”

He frowned, letting his eyes drop down to his coffee as he added sugar and cream to it. Stirring furiously, he took a moment before answering me.

“Technically, yes.”

~Lily & Ephrem - The ArcKnight Chronicles

EXCERPT TWO:
“My Lady, I cannot leave you here alone. It’s not safe.”

I whipped my eyes open and glared at him. “I told you I was banished. You can stop with the formalities and get. I don’t have time to waste on a pathetic royal guard. Especially a MarkTier. I'm okay on my own.”

“If you come with me, I know a safe place where you can get out of the rain and get warm.”

I laughed. It came out more hysterical than I intended, but I was not in a mood to keep it together any longer. The fact that he offered me any shelter at all, most likely his home, was gracious, yet the knowledge that it was most likely on ArcKnight territory made the offer even more bittersweet. I was banished not only from the royal ArcKnight palace but from lingering on any of the pack’s territories, which included a substantial chunk of the city.

I was truly alone now.

“You’d be punished for harboring a non-citizen… a traitor like me. I can’t. You know I can’t.”

He held out his hand. It glistened with water, for he was soaked to the bone, just like me. The cold rain didn’t affect him at all. I was the one shivering and on the verge of hypothermia, and yet he waited patiently.

“It’s beyond the ArcKnight border. I promise.” His eyes gleamed in the momentary moonlight sneaking past the storm clouds above. They were breathtaking and unusual. I’d never seen another shifter with eyes like his.

It may be beyond the ArcKnight stronghold, but they weren’t the only pack ruling the city.

“But the MarkTiers….”

“They have no jurisdiction there either.”

Staring at him in disbelief, I let my eyes linger on his for an eternal moment. His offer brought more questions to my mind than anything else. Even so, there was something there that held me in a trance and beckoned me to follow. Taken in by that hypnotizing cobalt sea, I reached out, accepted his hand and let him lead me through the murky city paths I’d never trodden, deeper into the unknown.

This place was now my new home, and it was nothing but strange and frightening.

But what choice did I have?

~Lily & Ephrem - The ArcKnight Chronicles

Author BIO:
Alexia Purdy
Alexia currently lives in Las Vegas, Nevada - Sin City! She loves to spend every free moment writing or playing with her four rambunctious kids. Writing has always been her dream and she has been writing ever since she can remember. She is the award-winning author of the Reign of Blood series and A Dark Faerie Tale Series.

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